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The present invention relates to a vehicle service status tracking system and method.
The present invention provides a system and methods to allow multiple stations in geographically dispersed locations to monitor and track vehicle repair record and service status information. In a service area comprised of a number of geographically-bounded service regions, at least one regional communications terminal is provided in communication with a plurality of local communications terminals. Each local communications terminal is typically located at a separate repair or service location having responsibility for servicing the vehicles temporally located within the region.
The present invention provides a system and methods for maintaining and disseminating vehicle service information within and among regions. Vehicle service events are entered into a vehicle tracking system and maintained using a vehicle status database. Database files are exchanged among regional communications terminals and with a central equipment manager in order to provide timely and accurate dissemination of service status.
A further aspect of the present invention is the sharing of vehicle service status with marketing offices and retail locations. This enables personnel at such locations to understand the repair history of a particular vehicle.
A still further aspect of the present invention is the ability to predict vehicle availability or time of return from service. The system and methods according to the present invention provide an availability prediction for operations personnel to allocate fleet vehicles while taking account of anticipated vehicle demand.
Other advantages and objectives of the present invention are apparent upon inspection of this specification and the drawings appended thereto.